march 2009 issue
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THE SUMMIT SERIES
Where Work Ends, Volunteering Begins
Dr. Raj Rajan, P.Eng., is an award-winning researcher and innovator with the Alberta Research Council. But his philosophy of giving back
keeps him busy away from the job, too — which earned him the 2008 Community Service Summit Award
BY JANE MARSHALL
Freelance Writer
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SERVICE BEYOND |
A long workday has finally ended but it’s taken a toll. You’re tired all over from intense concentration, and your mind still whirs with computers, workplace issues and project challenges. At least it’s Friday.
For many, these factors would catalyze into throwing on a pair of sweatpants and curling up in front of the television to decompress. But Dr. Raj Rajan, P.Eng., takes a different attitude — and that’s what led him to the podium as the winner of APEGGA’s 2008 Community Service Summit Award.
Dr. Rajan’s busy career at the Alberta Research Council in Edmonton hasn’t deterred him from actively volunteering in the community for the last 25 years. A chemical engineer at ARC since 1982, he spends most of his time studying and working with heavy oil and oilsands. He’s a researcher and an innovator — in fact he’s a co-inventor with seven patents to his name.
His research interests began in 1963 at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, continuing at the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, and then at Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. in Pinawa, Man. Most recently, he was involved in the AERI/ARC Core Industry Research Program, which was the recipient of the 2007 Syncrude/ASTech Innovation in Oil Sands Research Prize.
Heeding the Scriptures
This engineer’s work ethic extends far beyond the workplace, however. Dr. Rajan has a steadfast philosophy that keeps him actively involved in the community at large, even in the busiest of times. Fostering this drive are his Hindu background and his desire to reciprocate any help that comes his way.
“Service to the community is emphasized in religious scriptures, whether in the Bhagavad Gita, the Bible or elsewhere,” explains Dr. Rajan. In the Hindu scripture Bhagavad Gita, selfless service to others, or seva or karma yoga, is considered the creator’s first commandment. These values motivate Dr. Rajan to volunteer for the Society of Petroleum Engineers, for APEGGA in many capacities, and for other groups and people as well.
Dr. Rajan is APEGGA’s representative on the University of Alberta Engineering Faculty Council. He has dedicated time to APEGGA’s Edmonton Membership Liaison Committee, the Honours and Awards Committee and other committees. Right now, he’s on APEGGA’s Practice Review Board and is the treasurer on the board of directors of the arms-length APEGGA Education Foundation.
In 1996, APEGGA recognized Dr. Rajan’s contribution to his profession and Association with a voluntary service award. His employer, the Alberta Research Council, has also many times recognized his invaluable contribution to community.
Generations Ahead
Dr. Rajan sees great importance in helping tomorrow’s engineers. “I interact as a mentor to young graduates and guide them any way I can to get them into a job or higher education. Then, the decision is of course up to them.”
A mentor through APEGGA and the Society of Petroleum Engineers, Dr. Rajan also volunteers with APEGGA’s Outreach Program. He uses his experience and skills to help students realize their potential and catch the excitement of science.
He sits on the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology’s Chemical Engineering Technology Curriculum Advisory Board, and judges science fairs and events at the Edmonton Science Olympics.
His commitment to helping tomorrow’s engineers has even extended to the initiation of a personally funded annual scholarship for chemical engineering students. This $600 scholarship is for students of the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, where Dr. Rajan received his PhD in 1970. “My commitment is to give at least some of what I have received back to the community.”
Dr. Rajan sums up his credo with a quote by the South Indian poet Tiruvalluvar. It’s taken from the Thirukkural, a text the poet wrote in early first century India as a guide to life: “There is no pleasure anywhere equal to the rare joy of being helpful to those around you;” and, “Nothing dignifies one more than one’s service to one’s community.”
Keeping the Music Alive
Dr. Rajan’s skills move beyond engineering and into the world of arts and music. His motto and selflessness are the same as they are on the sciences side. On weekends, he teaches at no cost to his students classical South Indian music on the violin, a skill he learned in India. At this time, he has five students.
This passion for music has Dr. Rajan co-editing the English transliteration of two web-based books on South Indian classical music. He also created a $500 annual scholarship for the University of Alberta’s Department of Music. He considers the scholarship a tribute to his late parents — not only does it honour the family that supported him, but is spurs students’ ambitions, too.
There’s more, of course. For example, Dr. Rajan is a regular blood donor and a volunteer for the Alberta Lung Association, the Canadian Cancer Society and the Terry Fox Run.
All this community work takes plenty of drive. By the weekend, many people feel used up by the demands of this modern world. But Dr. Rajan counters: “Time is what you make it to be. I can sit in front of the TV or I can find time to do my own recreational or volunteer activities. You have to find the time. Yes, we can!”
The Community Service Award recognizes a member’s outstanding contribution to society.
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